Naruto and Hinata: the Forbidden Tales
by Tama Saga
Summary: There are too many NaruHina stories. And here is another! But I'm telling tales of why the two SHOULDN'T marry.
1. Too Nice

_Wanna know one important reason why Hinata isn't good for Naruto?_

An AntiNaruHina Tale  
by MingShun

-o-o-o-o-o-

It was a bright sunny day. But it wasn't very peaceful.

"Sakura-chan! Please?" Naruto was on his knees and begging his pink-haired teammate.

"For the last time, no!" Sakura shouted as she punched him over the head. He collapsed like a sack of bricks.

Naruto jumped up to find Sakura gone. However, there was someone else in front of him.

"Hinata-chan!" he shouted as he ran over and hugged her.

There was an eep and Naruto pulled back slightly to look at the unconscious girl in his arms. "Hinata-chan?"

-o-o-o-o-o-

(A few minutes after Hinata woke up...)

"So you see! After ten bowls, Sakura-chan won't let me have anymore ramen! You'll talk to her for me right?" Naruto asked as he concluded his story.

Hinata had a determined expression on her face. She gave a brisk nod before leaving to find Sakura.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Sakura turned and saw Hinata approach her. This was like the hundredth time in the past two weeks. Enough was enough, and the pink-haired girl finally threw up her arms and shouted in exasperation. "That's it! Fine! Go tell the idiot that I won't limit his intake anymore. He can eat all the artery-clogging ramen he wants from now on."

With that, she stomped off angrily, leaving a confused girl behind.

Needless to say, Naruto was ecstatic about the news, and he celebrated it with a new record...47 bowls.

-o-o-o-o-o-

(A few years later)

Naruto finally fell over from a heart attack.

Hours later, Sakura left his hospital room with a frown on her face.

Hinata timidly entered, and slowly approached the figure in bed with an apprehensive look on her face. Naruto turned to Hinata with a smile.

"It's not your fault Hinata-chan, don't beat yourself over it."

"But if I hadn't changed Sakura's mi-" the girl cried from the side.

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto said sternly. "A Hokage can work just as well from behind his desk. Sakura-chan might not let me enter the field for a few weeks but it's not over."

They were silent for a moment.

"Oh!" Naruto suddenly shouted as he smacked a fist into a palm, "Sakura-chan has also forbidden me from ever touching ramen again. Can you talk to her again for me?"

When she heard this, Hinata ran from the room with a choked sob.

"Neji!" Naruto called out. When his friend peered through the doorway, the blond Hokage quickly said, "Watch over your cousin."

With a bow, the white-eyed man left the room.

-o-o-o-o-o-

(The moral of this tale?)

Hinata is too nice. She won't push him to stop even when she realizes that Naruto is hurting himself.

-o-o-o-o-o-

A/N: There we go, this was a good creative writing exercise. The characters should be fairly IC. Let me know if they're not. Don't forget to add why. Tweaking things is a specialty of mine.

Acknowledgements:

Thanks go to DrkKni for pointing out a discontinuity in the story. I fixed it so that now we see that Naruto had been asking Hinata this favor for some time now.

Thanks to faern for pointing out an unrealistic time frame. Easily fixed.


	2. Responsibilty

_Wanna know one important reason why Hinata isn't good for Naruto?_

An AntiNaruHina Tale  
by MingShun

-o-o-o-o-o-  
Chapter 2: Responsibility  
-o-o-o-o-o-

"Hokage-sama!" a pink haired girl cheerfully called out as she stepped into the office for a visit. Her breath steamed a little...even inside. A good reason for the large pile of blankets in her hands.

"Eh?" Her eyes remained closed but the happy arches sagged a little. And now, instead of a nice smile, her mouth was hanging open slightly in surprise. She looked sort of like a disgruntled fox. And she looked this way because whoever she was expecting to be behind the desk, this wasn't it.

The empty Hokage chair taunted her as she threw the large downy blanket toward a wall before running outside.

-o-o-o-o-o-

"Sakura-chan! Noo! I don't want to!" Naruto cried as he was roughly dragged up the stairs. He was still dressed in a heavy snowsuit, and it looked like he had been in the middle of a snowball fight.

Despite the fact that he probably weighed more than she did, he was easily picked up and thrown into his chair.

"Bring in the paperwork!" Sakura shouted angrily at the aides peering inside. Their heads instantly disappeared.

"Nooooo..." Naruto cried as he backpedaled as the towering masses slowly entered the room.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Naruto looked up when he heard a slight shuffling sound. Sakura had left already, but not before leaving explicit instructions like she usually did. And like clockwork, Naruto was already planning his escape. But first...

"Hinata-chan?"

"Ano...I thought you might like one," Hinata shyly said as she entered the room and held out a small mooncake to the man behind the desk.

"Thanks Hinata-chan!" Naruto happily said before he stopped to stare at the white-eyed girl for a moment.

Hinata stared back in confusion.

"Hey, Hinata-chan..."

-o-o-o-o-o-

"Naruto..." came a low growl from behind him.

Naruto stopped helping the children with the oversized snowman to turn around. "Ah! Sakura-chan!" Naruto cheerfully said.

"Shouldn't you be doing paperwork?"

"I'm working on it," he replied with a grin.

Sakura regarded him skeptically for a moment. "How can you be working on it if you're out here?" she asked while tapping her foot irritatedly.

That made him pause for a moment, his eyes wide in shock. They quickly closed as he put a hand behind his head. "Ah! Hahaha, I don't know."

Sakura immediately seized his arm before turning to the children. "Sorry boys and girls, this one has a few things to do."

And with that, she immediately tugged Naruto away amidst a chorus of, "Awww"'s.

"Ah! But..." Naruto protested.

They had almost reached his office when Naruto finally redoubled his struggling. "Wait, Sakura-chan!"

Sakura paid him no heed and entered the room. That was where she stopped.

A white-eyed girl was staring curiously at the two from her place behind the desk.

"I...see," Sakura said before she rounded angrily on Naruto.

"No!" Hinata quickly shouted, stopping Sakura in her tracks. The green-eyed girl turned to the white-eyed one, silently asking for a reason for the interruption. Hinata gave her one. "It's not his fault."

-o-o-o-o-o-

(Several years later, Hinata had finally asked Naruto to marry her.)

Naruto stepped into the room with a large grin on his face. The grin dropped like a rock.

"Hinata!" Naruto stammered before he recovered from his surprise. "You should be in bed."

His wife was hunched behind his large desk, red-faced and sweating profusely as she struggled to finish his next batch of paperwork.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine," she said with a weak smile before she returned to her work.

"No you won't be," Naruto insisted as he pulled her from the desk and frog-marched her back to their room.

-o-o-o-o-o-

He came back from a nice walk outside.

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto shouted when he saw his sick wife resting her head on his desk. She was panting heavily and she seemed to be in pain.

-o-o-o-o-o-

"Keep her in bed, Naruto," Sakura ordered as she finished inspecting her patient and looked up at the blond man sitting patiently on the other side of the bed.

"No, I have to finish...for Naruto-kun," Hinata mumbled as she weakly struggled to sit up. Pink and blond immediately held her down.

The accusing look from the pink-haired woman caused him to look away. "Hinata-chan..."

The two woman paused as they struggled to hear his next words.

"...I won't let you do the paperwork again," Naruto finished. A determined look appeared on his face as he turned back around. "Believe it."

-o-o-o-o-o-

Having forbidden his wife from doing the paperwork, Naruto had no choice but to sit down and take care of it himself. Many days, he would stare dreamily outside before he turned back to his desk. The paperwork had to be done first...and it was neverending.

-o-o-o-o-o-

The End? Not quite.

Hinata visited frequently, and Naruto was happy to see her. But it wasn't quite the same as running free outside. She tried to help, but Naruto's promise kicked in and he immediately pushed her outside saying "I'll be done soon, don't worry."

-o-o-o-o-o-

Fin 2nd Tale.

Omake! Ichi!  
(RobotPirateNinja's super solution)

"Naruto? Why don't you use Kage Bunshin?" Sakura asked the sulking man behind the desk.

The man behind the desk suddenly looked up and gave her a victory sign. With a poof, he disappeared in a giant cloud of smoke.

The real Naruto was sitting atop a giant Yak when he suddenly felt chills shoot up his spine as memories rushed to his head. "Dumb clone! Why'd you let Sakura-chan find out?!"

Soon after, a loud shriek of "Naruto!" came from out of nowhere. It sounded so menacing that Naruto couldn't help but grin and hang on as his startled mount suddenly made a very good impression of a runaway train. Hopefully they could reach the border by the time Sakura-chan caught up.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Okay pyro-chan. You asked for it, and I've questioned it myself before the chapter came out. For the previous chapter, I don't think there is much mention from Kishimoto about Naruto's healing factor and how it deals with conditions that don't result in large losses of blood or excessive cell loss. Since artery clogging doesn't really block the blood or kill cells, it seems like Naruto could still suffer from a heart attack, although it would be a bit tougher than normal. Hey, 40 bowls of ramen a day is going to do something though, don't you think?


	3. Manners

_Hinata is not a good love interest for Naruto._

An AntiNaruHina Tale  
by MingShun

-o-o-o-o-o-  
Chapter 3: Manners  
-o-o-o-o-o-

Naruto slid a secret door aside and entered his office. Turning around, he was about to slide the door shut when...

"Naruto-kun!" Sakura shouted as her head appeared in the main entrance to the office. Naruto stiffened slightly in surprise.

"Sakura-chan! Isn't it a bit early?" he whined. She didn't usually come bother him until noon. Then something caught his eye. "Eh? What are you doing behind Yuki-chan's desk?"

"She's out sick today, so I volunteered to be your secretary." When he heard that, Naruto almost didn't suppress the shudder that ran through his body as a feeling of impending doom overcame him.

"Don't you have something to do at the hospital?" The blond boy asked calmly.

"Tsunade-sensei said that she would cover me. We're not expecting many patients today," the pink-haired girl helpfully supplied as she smoothed out a stack of papers.

"Where's Meri-chan then?" He asked, a slight edge of panic in his voice.

"Yuki couldn't find her," Sakura said distractedly as she looked around for something on her desk.

"How about Suzuki-san?" he questioned, using the name of one of the mailroom operators.

Sakura suddenly looked up with a glare. "You don't want me here today, do you?"

"O-of course I do!" Naruto stammered in reply to her warning.

A skeptical look appeared in her green eyes before they hardened into a glare. "Good, because you have an appointment with Kiba in half an hour. Please find your wife. He has requested her presence as well."

"What does dogboy want anyway?" Naruto curiously asked.

"Ask him yourself," Sakura said as she slapped a scroll onto the desk and pulled out a brush.

-o-o-o-o-o-

"We need more land for our companions to walk around," Kiba said from the other side of the Hokage's desk.

Seated behind his desk, with his wife on a separate seat next to him, Naruto wordlessly shook his head no.

"And why, may I ask, is that Hokage-sama?" Kiba asked with narrowed eyes.

"That land has been marked preserved property." Naruto answered with a smug look.

"Just because your old apartment is on it?" Kiba questioned through gritted teeth.

"Of course," Naruto said with a satisfied look.

Kiba stood up. "Well you're not living there anymore, why let the land go to waste? C'mon, let's level the place so that the Inuzuka ninken can roam freely there." he pleaded.

Naruto stood up as well. "The answer is still no, Teme, and that's final!"

Both men glared angrily at each other, their noses almost touching. In moments, a fight was about to break out. Except...

Naruto felt a tug on his sleeve. Looking back, he saw that it was his wife insisting that he sit down.

Naruto sat back down without protest. Kiba stared in openmouthed surprise...he had been fully expecting this to be harder.

And then Hinata said, "I'm sorry for my husband."

Naruto's mouth dropped in shock at the same time a grin filled the Inuzuka's face. "Ah hahahaha, whipped."

Naruto sputtered as he started to stand and confront the bastard. "What did you..." Hinata gave a firm tug on his shirt sleeve. Naruto quickly rounded on his wife with a pleading expression. It immediately failed when he saw the resolute look on her face as she shook her head no.

"Whipped!" Kiba taunted again.

"Dammit!" Naruto shouted as he broke free and stomped out of the room.

Hinata watched her husband leave before she turned to glare at the man behind the coffee table. "Kiba..."

-o-o-o-o-o-

- A Quarter of an Hour Later -

Hinata stepped out and bowed to her former teammate. Kiba returned the gesture before heading for the stairs.

"Ano...Sakura-san. I managed to reach an agreement," Hinata said as she handed over a scroll.

"Oh?" Sakura asked as she took it and unrolled it to examine it.

"Hmm...this is rather fair. Very good job." She quickly rolled the scroll up and set it aside. "I'll give this to Naruto when he returns. Speaking of which, I saw him storm out half an hour ago. What happened?" the pink haired girl asked as she casually leaned back and stretched. Being a receptionist was hard work.

Instead of answering, Hinata just stared wordlessly at the stairwell.

-o-o-o-o-o-

- Later -

"Sorry Naruto-kun." Hinata quietly apologized.

"It's okay Hinata-chan. Really. It's just...argh! Kiba gets on my nerves sometimes."

-o-o-o-o-o-

- Gag! Retch! -

Moral: Hinata was raised in a proper household. Manners and decorum are important to her, especially in front of important people or friends.

It's not blind love that makes Naruto forget all about her actions and accept things in a stride. It's his forgiving nature. If it were blind love though, that would be another strike against NaruHina wouldn't it? There's only so much you can praise someone before something screws of up the idealistic marriage.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Omake Ichi!

(Continued from Previous Omake)

Unsurprisingly, Sakura caught them before they reached the boundary separating the country of wind from the country of fire.

She had an odd smile on her face as she held out a small box. "Here's the lunch that I planned to give you, Hokage-sama."

"Uhh, thanks Sakura-chan," Naruto said as he hesitantly took the lunchbox. That smile was worrying him.

"Here," Sakura said as she held out a pair of chopsticks.

Naruto cautiously took them before saying, "Thanks again, Sakura-chan." With that, he carefully cracked open the box. The Yak next to him started to drool as the warm pleasant aroma started to waft out.

It looked delicious! "Itadaki-"

"Please enjoy your in-flight meal," the pink-haired girl coldly interrupted.

"Wha?" Naruto asked in confusion.

**Bam!**

And that was how Naruto reached the Hokage tower in less than 5 minutes with a 7.8 landing score. On the bright side, he landed without a trace of rice in the bento. And it wasn't because it had fallen out when he took off, but because he had finished it in-flight without spilling a single grain. An incredible achievement. Truly, he had come a long way in his training.

As for the Yak.

"Yak-san!" Sakura said with the smile as she rounded on the large furry animal. If the Yak could pale, it would. But even if it did, it wasn't visible. Especially since it was currently showing its bum to Sakura as it ran for the nearest hills.

A disappointed look was on Sakura's face, Naruto had made the Yak riding look fun.

-o-o-o-o-o-

A/N: If that happened to me, I don't think the apology was enough. Especially since I know that this is going to keep happening. I foresee a marriage counselor in the future because Hinata is not going to sit idly by when someone important to her or Konoha is being verbally abused by Naruto. And Naruto is not going to sit down and think when he's being challenged.

Now there's the issue of Hinata trusting Naruto. She'll definitely trust him when he's going against people that she doesn't know very well. But she doesn't want to see her precious people's feelings hurt.

Notice how I don't say a thing about how Hinata will react when Konoha's future is at stake. Naruto will turn to her and say 'trust me.' And she'll stop protesting, as Naruto moves forward.


	4. I Won't Let You Hit Him

_Hinata does not mix well with Naruto._

An AntiNaruHina Tale  
by MingShun

-o-o-o-o-o-  
Chapter 4: Hinata's Newfound Confidence  
-o-o-o-o-o-

"Naruto you idiot!"

"Gaah! I already said I was sorry Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted as he bounced away, his Hokage robes flapping behind him as he made his way down the street. Pedestrians desperately leaped left or right. They were trying to avoid being at ground zero but their actions served to clear a path as well.

Little did the two know that they were going to be interrupted.

"Stop!"

The scene froze.

"H-Hinata?" the pink-haired girl finally sputtered in surprise as she held her fist a few centimeters from Naruto's nose.

"Dearest?" Naruto asked, equally confused by this turn of events.

Hinata turned to her husband and smiled when she heard what he had called her. "Anata, please leave. I wish to have a word with Sakura-san."

"But..." he started to protest, and then he saw the upset look start to form on Hinata's face. He quickly turned around. "Right, see you in a bit." He quickly disappeared around a corner.

Hinata turned back to Sakura. "Do you like my husband?" she asked, putting emphasis the very last word.

A tight-lipped expression formed on Sakura's face before she shook her head no.

"Are you trying to kill him?"

Sakura shook her head no again.

"Then why are you trying to hit him?"

Sakura put both hands on her hips in a aggressive manner, "he does stupid things all the time," she irritatedly replied while leaning forward.

Hinata held a finger in front of Sakura's face. "I ask that you stop."

"What?"

"You will not hurt my husband anymore, physically or verbally."

"I'm not hurting him," the pink-haired girl replied, outraged.

Hinata was unfazed. "Good," she said with a nod. "keep it that way," she coolly replied before turning away.

Sakura watched the other girl go. "Was that a threat?" she wondered.

-o-o-o-o-o-

A pink-haired, green-eyed girl peeked into the large office and spotted her boss seated behind a solid desk. She entered the room, unannounced. Apparently, he hadn't noticed her presence yet because he was currently busy scrawling something into a journal.

Standing demurely beside him was his wife.

"Naruto, I'm here to report the day's new-," she began as she started pulling the door closed.

"Happy Birthday Haruno-san," a passing nin interrupted.

Sakura gave him a quick smile and a thank you before pulling the door shut. She turned back around and jumped back in surprise when she saw the horrified look on the Hokage's face.

Feeling Sakura's eyes on him, Naruto immediately whipped his head to the right, where a small calendar resided on his desk. Several boxes on the calendar were marked with thick X's, letting him know that that day had passed. The next box, the one with "birthday" scrawled messily inside and circled several times, hadn't been affected yet.

"I-I forgot Sakura-chan's birthday!" he stammered.

Sakura's face fell slightly at the admission before a forced grin appeared on her face. "It's okay."

"How many?!"

"?"

"How many people wished you Happy Birthday already?" Naruto loudly demanded, slamming both hands on the desk.

"Umm, Ino, Chouji, Neji, Kakashi..." Sakura fearfully rattled off, the moment she saw the ugly look on his face. She didn't see Naruto's face falling further and further with each name that she ticked off.

"Ano..."

Both immediately looked at Hinata.

"What's wrong Hinata?"

"..." Hinata stood in that position for a moment before she smiled innocently. "Nothing..."

Apparently they were done recounting names, but Naruto was very far from happy. Blue eyes met green. "Sakura-chan! I'm so sorry!"

"It's alright, really." Sakura placatingly said.

"No, it's not okay, I was supposed to be first!" he moaned, and a depressed aura sprang up around him.

Sakura and Hinata exchanged glances before Sakura decided to start. "What did you get me?" she asked with a coy smile. Hinata gave her a thankful look.

And Naruto stopped wallowing in self-pity to look up. He suddenly grinned, "How'dja know I got you a gift?" he animatedly asked before he started looking rummaging around his desk. "

His search soon expanded to the space beneath his chair and under the desk, but still no gift.

"I know I put it somewhere around here," he grumbled as he started to yank drawers out. Sakura chuckled slightly at his antics. She quickly stopped and looked up at a hanging banner when she felt Hinata glare at her.

Naruto finally slammed a drawer shut and turned to his wife, "Where did I put Sakura-chan's present, Hinata?"

Hinata looked thoughtful for a moment before a smile appeared on her face. "Was it the..." she bent over and whispered into his ears.

"...Yes! yes, that's the one Hinata-chan!"

"It's in our home. I'll go retrieve it," Hinata replied happily.

"Thank you Dearest!"

The white-eyed girl left the room with a large smile on her face.

"Hinata-chan is getting your present," Naruto said with a grin.

Sakura stopped staring at the tapestry to look at her boss. "I'm going to report today's news while we wait then."

"Nope!"

"Huh?"

"Sakura-chan is going to help me pick out a restaurant for tonight."

Sakura looked confused for a moment before she grinned, "That's sweet of you. I'm sure Hinata will be very happy to hear that you're taking her out to eat tonight."

"Nope!"

"?"

"It's for you Sakura-chan! You're coming with us."

"...what?"

"I forgot your birthday, so I'm making it up to you."

"You don't have to," Sakura giggled nervously.

"But I forgot your party! I have to!"

The pink-haired girl frowned. "No, it's alright Naruto."

Understanding dawned on Naruto's face. "It's a bad day isn't it? Then how about tomorrow?"

"No, it's really okay Naruto."

"Please! I need to say that I'm sorry!"

"You have."

"It's not enough."

"It is."

"It's not enough!"

"Naruto," Sakura warned with a half-lidded expression.

Naruto looked at her. "Huh?"

"It is." she carefully said.

"No it's not!"

Sakura sighed, "Let's discuss this later, I still need to summarize today's activities."

"No! Not yet!" the Hokage shouted, waving his hands frantically in front of her to tell her to stop everything until he told her something important.

"Naruto..." the pink-haired girl growled.

Naruto shouted as he jumped ever his desk and dropped to his knees. "I'm really really sorry Sakura-chan!"

Sakura quickly bent down and grabbed his shoulder right as he was about to kowtow to her. "Stop," she ordered uncomfortably.

He might not be able to prostrate himself in front of her anymore, but he could still babble. "I'm going to give Sakura-chan a thousand gifts to make up for it,"

"Naruto-"

"Sakura likes flowers right? That will be my first gift."

"-stop."

"And I'll give her that pretty rock that I found yesterday."

"Naruto..."

"Sakura-chan wants new clothes right?"

"I SAID..."

Naruto finally stopped babbling and looked up. "eh?"

"ST-" Sakura was about to bring her fist down when she froze. Someone was glaring harshly at her.

"Here," Hinata coldly said as she walked in between the two former teammates and shoved a poorly-wrapped box into the pink-haired girl's stomach. Sakura slowly lowered her hand and took hold of the large package.

Once the package was firmly in the other girl's hand, Hinata pulled away and stepped back, glaring at the pink haired girl, daring her to try anything. There was a silent message in that glare, one that Sakura wasn't happy to see.

"Naruto," Sakura quietly said as her energy disappeared. "It's okay. Forget about my birthday. Let me report the news."

"But..." Naruto started to protest.

"Please." Though it was in a pleading tone, it was not a request.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Hinata entered their bedroom to see Naruto shaking upon their bed.

She slowly reached forward with a whisper of "Anata," only to let out a squeak when she was suddenly seized by the shoulders.

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto wept. "Sakura doesn't care about me anymore."

"?" Confused, Hinata patiently waited for her husband to continue.

"She gave up! She was about to hit me and then she stopped. I'm not worth getting mad at anymore!"

"I'm sure that's not what Sakura-san was thinking," Hinata replied as a slight feeling of guilt appeared.

"It is! And it's all because I forgot her birthday!" he dived under the covers and covered his head. Then he started to cry loudly.

Hinata bit her lip before she climbed onto the bed from the other side. He'll get over it. It was better in the long run.

-o-o-o-o-o-

But Naruto's energy seemed to have disappeared. And he went about his job in a gloomy way.

"This isn't like you, Hokage-sama," Ino said as she picked up her latest mission. Naruto paused and stared at the document in front of him for a moment before grunting once and then resuming his work.

Ino shook her head and walked out without another word.

Shikamaru arrived a few minutes later, followed by a group of three pre-teens. "Need a D-ranked mission," he lazily said, the cigarette in the corner of his mouth bouncing up and down as he said this. The mission offices were two floors higher, but Shikamaru being Shikamaru...

"..."

"...Naruto?"

Several hours later, Naruto was staring eagerly at the door. Sakura-chan was going to arrive soon.

"Anata," Hinata said as she stepped into the room with several documents in her arms. Sakura-san won't be in today.

"What?! But what about today's news?!"

"I have the reports right here."

"But...but..."

"You don't want me to give it?" Hinata asked, a little hurt.

"But it's Sakura-chan's job."

"It's only for today. She'll be back tomorrow."

"But...I...okay. What happened today?" Naruto asked, not leaning back and putting both hands behind his head like he would with Sakura. The nervous ticks in his arms and legs as they rested in a relaxed mode indicated that he didn't quite know what sort of posture to adopt for his wife.

Hinata glanced down at the page in her hand, "Today we've completed..."

-o-o-o-o-o-

Sakura smiled sadly at the small bouquet of orange flowers that sat on her doorstep. Without bothering to pick them up, she unlocked her door and pushed it open. The door quietly closed once she had entered the room.

-o-o-o-o-o-

"Hinata, why are you standing beside the door?" Naruto asked the next day. When he didn't receive a reply, he shrugged and continued to work.

Kiba arrived before noon.

"Hey buddy, we need more territory."

"Yeah, sure," Naruto replied tonelessly as he continued to work.

"..." speechless, Kiba held out a small form. Naruto took it and signed it without looking.

"Hey, you feelin' okay?" Kiba asked as he waited for the other shoe to drop.

"Just fine," came the listless reply.

"Uhh well, thanks then. We'll make good use of it." Kiba said with a grin.

"Hey Hinata-chan," Kiba said. He was a bit too happy to notice the response, or lack of it. If he had, he would have stopped and asked her what was wrong.

Kiba marked the end of a busy morning. The afternoon turned out to be even busier. But Naruto continued to work with unusual diligence. Late in the afternoon, someone entered right when the last mission request was stamped and approved.

Hinata depressed countenance brightened greatly.

"Hinata-chan! Ready for dinner?" Tenten asked as she walked in, dressed in a nice evening gown.

Hinata smile dropped when she looked at her husband.

"It's fine. Have fun Hinata-chan." Naruto said with a grin as he idly twirled a pen in his fingers. Only the most experienced could tell how fake it was.

Hinata seemed to deflate. "Maybe next time."

"What?! But you've been waiting for weeks for this! And everyone's finally here!" Tenten said in surprise.

"Maybe next time," Hinata repeated.

Tenten gaped at the girl for a moment before she looked at Naruto. An apologetic smile appeared on her face. "I'll let you know how it goes then."

"Thank you," Hinata mechanically responded.

Half an hour later, an aide arrived with a stack of papers in his hands, surprising the two.

"What happened to Sakura-chan?"

"She called in at the last minute and said that she couldn't make it," the aide quickly answered.

"Sakura-chan doesn't even want to see me anymore..." Naruto mumbled, his face downcast.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Naruto energetically ran up the stairs and paused.

He stared at the overturned flowers on the doorstep for a very long moment, giving Hinata time to catch up.

Reaching forward, he slowly set the vase upright again before he left a second vase of orange flowers next to the first. He turned to Hinata and, with a nod, the two of them walked away; they were heading back to the Hokage's tower for the night.

-o-o-o-o-o-

"I am looking for Haruno-san," Hinata quietly said to the receptionist the next day.

The overworked brunette looked over the sheets in front of her for a moment before looking up. "I believe she should be checking up on each of her patients. You should be able to meet up with her if you look around D-Wing."

"Thank you," Hinata meekly whispered before she turned and walked off.

Sure enough, she managed to spot Sakura coming out of a room in D-Wing.

And it looked like Sakura had spotted her too because the light-haired girl quickly ducked back into the room and shut the door. There was an audible click.

A small frown appeared on Hinata's face.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Naruto jumped when office door slid open with a *Bang!*

He stared, frozen in horror as the pink thing fast approached his spot.

"Saku-RAAA-!"

* Crash. *

"-AAaaaaaaaaahh!"

3...2...1...*Thud*

Sakura-chan?! What'd you do that for?! Naruto shouted from outside as he picked himself up from off the ground and brushed the loose glass off. He was completely fine, even after being thrown out of a closed window and falling several stories. The surprised crowd quickly returned to their business.

Sakura ran to the window and placed both of her hands on the sill before sticking her head through the hole in the glass and shouting down, "can't you see how your mood is affecting Hinata?"

W-What?! What are you talking about?! Hinata-chan! I'm so sorry! Don't cry! Naruto shouted as he ran up the walls and leapt into his office through the new hole in the window. Funnily enough, if he had waited in that spot for a few more seconds, Hinata would have appeared behind him as she returned from the hospital.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Omake! Ichi!

"Why was Sakura out today?" Naruto asked

"She fell sick.

"But she's a doctor. Doctors don't get sick."

"They do..."

Naruto grinned. "They don't. Trust me on this."

Hinata wasn't about to argue with her husband. A shame really, since Naruto's brief bout of energy soon faded away.

She remained quiet for a moment before a ludicrous idea popped in her head, one that wouldn't disappear. She finally voiced her thoughts out loud, "maybe..."

Naruto looked at her.

"Maybe she hopped onto a Yak and the two ran for the border." Hinata said with a weak grin. Such an odd thought, of course her husband wouldn't believe it.

Naruto frowned. "Why didn't she invite me?"

"?!"

* * *

A/N:

It's Hinata's fault. Her confidence gained from being with Naruto led her to actively try and protect her husband from all who dared hit him, even friends.

-o-o-o-o-o-

People often don't realize how closely intertwined Hinata would become with Naruto if you put her together with the blond boy. If Naruto feels sad, Hinata is going to stop functioning. Don't tell me otherwise. She draws most of her strength from others, not from herself.

Note that Naruto's depression does not stem from infidelity. It comes about because Sakura is very important to him. She's his first crush. His teammate. Someone powerful and respectable. Someone that he wants to play matchmaker for because she's lonely but she hides it well. Someone that's smart, knows when he's making stupid mistakes, and isn't afraid to show - in a very direct and obvious manner - just how stupid he's being. So, when she stopped caring for him...

Naruto isn't a masochist. Sakura's attacks stopped injuring him a long time ago. One because she's pulling her punches nowadays, and two because he's got a harder head. Haven't you heard of the Bakusai Tenketsu training? This is an alternate form of that training method.

Naruto thrives on action. He loves playing around in a rough and tumble kidlike manner. That's why he prefers it when Sakura reprimands him with physical force instead of words. Words are boring, y'know?

Hinata's conversation with Sakura at the hospital essentially involved giving the pink-haired permission to hit her husband. Hinata was trusting Sakura not to put Naruto into the hospital. Anyway, Sakura refused...but there seemed to be something about Hinata that seemed to be off...

-o-o-o-o-o-

This was one of the hardest chapters that I've ever written. Still not good with putting emotions into words...


End file.
